April 2009

Blog Bits

More from the bloggers:

a. AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners - Here's a post by Kristin Fontichiaro about the new American Association of School Librarians Standards for 21st Century Learner. The focus of the standards is inquiry, not the older term of information literacy. Read how Kristin describes the application of the skills, dispositions, actions and common beliefs from the new standards to 21st century learners.

b. What are the emerging classroom technologies?- The Horizon Report, made possible by a Microsoft grant, examines emerging technologies and their impact on teaching and learning. Read this post by Judy O'Connell describing the Horizon project. The six technologies discussed in the 2009 report are collaborative environments, online communication tools, mobiles, cloud computing, smart objects and the personal web. Confused? Check it out . . .

c. IB Blogosphere - Did you know the IB has a "blogosphere" that you can explore and to which you can contribute?

Lunchtime Book Clubbers Create Audio Book Reviews

Six fifth graders participated in the second session of the Lunchtime Book Club. They created audio book reviews in English, French and German to be posted to the audio book review section of the PS Library E-Bulletin Board. Please listen to some of the audio book reviews -- the quality is best from home.

PYP Threads and Flat Classrooms - Do You Do Nings?

You may want to join "PYP Threads" and/or "Flat Classrooms". Each of them is a Ning, meaning an online social network formed for a particular purpose or interest. At the site for each, you will find information about the members and the various discussion threads posted on each. These can be great sources of information about curriculum and instruction as well as a chance to network with educators around the world.

Magazines for Next Year

We will be submitting our magazine subscription renewals in early May and we anticipate reducing the number of periodicals in our collection. Please let us know what magazines you think we should renew. What magazines are useful to you in support of your curriculum? Help us make our subscriptions worthwhile by using the magazines in our collection and encouraging your students to read them. For your convenience, I have listed below magazines to which the PS Library currently subscribes:

Spanish - Reportero Doc, Okapi, Iguana, Caracola, Leo Leo
French - Images Doc, Histoires Vraies, Astrapi, Wakou, J'aime Lire, Mes Premiers J'aime Lire (with CD)
German - Wissen Macht Ah, Geolino, National Geographic (German edition)
English - I Love English, Faces, Calliope, Cobblestone, Ask, Click, National Geographic(English edition)

Thanks for your help in the selection process - this is your chance to speak up on what you like . . . and what you don't like.

New Books Page Now Features Covers

The "New Books and Book Talks" section of the PS Library E-Bulletin Board now features book covers through Library Thing. Take a look at that section of the library page when you have a chance. Currently showing are covers of some of our new French, Spanish and German books.

Suggestions to Manage Overdue Books

I’m looking for some good ideas and who better to ask than you? So here are the two questions I have for you.

What should be the “next step” if a student has had an overdue library book for one or more months and has neither returned it nor responded to overdue notices? What should be the reward this year for the class that has the least library books unreturned at the end of the school year? For the past two years, that class has received popsicles from the library to celebrate. Thanks for your thoughts!

Poem in Your Pocket

Visit the library to find a poem for your pocket this April, National Poetry Month! "Poem in Your Pocket" Day is April 30. See our display of poetry books for suggestions or look up one of your favorites!